


Impromptu date

by vegastar7



Category: Marvel
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 02:27:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25006918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vegastar7/pseuds/vegastar7
Relationships: Quicksilver / Val Cooper
Kudos: 3





	Impromptu date

**CHAPTER 1**

It was a shameful thing to admit, but Pietro was kind of glad a berserk sentinel had suddenly landed in a little no-name town in California. It broke the monotony of his civilian life, now that he wasn’t part of any Avengers teams.

He saw the sentinel attack in a breaking news segment on TV, and ran to the scene. He quickly dispatched the sentinel with the usual routine of climbing up the robot and ripping out the circuits connected to the power source.

All in all, the excitement just lasted a couple of minutes for Pietro. It took another minute for the cops surrounding the area to notice the sentinel had stopped. They slowly got out of their cars in bewilderment. Pietro was about to smash the circuitry on the floor when someone called out.   
“Actually, I need this circuit back Quicksilver...if you don’t mind.”

He turned around and saw Val Cooper, breaking through the police line.

“If it isn’t my favorite government agent, Val Cooper,” Pietro shot back.

“Still with the sarcasm. I need that part back. Sentinels are government property after all.”

“It’s so reassuring to know the government is behind this malfunctioning death machine.”

“I share your sentiment. Unfortunately, I don’t wield the power to stop senators from funding stupid projects. I’m just the one that has to clean up their mess”

She snuck a peek behind Pietro to look at the motionless sentinel. “Did you do this all by yourself, or are your Avenger buddies with you?”

“I’m not currently on their roster.” Pietro avoided Val’s stare and continued, “I’m taking a vacation if you will.”

Val raised an eyebrow. “A vacation in which you disarm sentinels, huh? What have you been up to since I last saw you, anyway?”

“A lot of things, but I won’t bore you with the details”

Val smiled “If I’m asking, it’s because I want to hear the details. It’s been a long time since you left X-Factor.”

“Why Val, do you miss me?” Pietro snickered. She scoffed

“As if. I hardly have time to be sentimental” An aide approached Valerie and whispered something in her ear. She sighed,

“Well, something’s come up. I need to get your deposition for this incident at some point. What’s your number?” She pulled out her cellphone.

“I’m afraid that if I give you my number, you’ll start calling me for stupid reasons.” Pietro joked.

She gave him a blank stare.

“Don’t be difficult.”

Pietro took the phone from her hands.

He entered his number and handed it back to her.

“Here! Don’t abuse it, or I’ll have to change my number.”

“As condescending as ever.” She took the circuit from his hands. “Don’t worry, I’ll erase your phone once I get your testimony”

She walked away from him, without even so much as a goodbye. Pietro realized he went overboard with the mean jokes. Why couldn’t he just say nice things? Why did he always have to turn people away with his attitude? Those were questions he often thought about.

If he wasn’t such a twisted person, he’d probably be part of an Avengers team right now. He sighed. He should try to apologize to Val when they would next meet. For now though, he needed to grab a bite to eat.

**CHAPTER 2**

Pietro had a hard time adjusting to “normal” life. He didn’t know how to fill the hours of each day. He had attempted patrolling the streets to stop crime, but most criminals weren’t very obvious with their activities.

This evening, he opted to take a walk in the park. He wandered close to the children’s playground. Watching the children play made him feel melancholy. How was his daughter? He’d missed so much of her growing up, and it was all his fault. His phone rang, dragging him out of his gloomy thoughts.

“Hello. Who is this?”

A feeble voice answered, “Please, help…”

“Val, is that you?”

“I can't get out...”

Though she hadn’t answered his question, the voice was unmistakeable. Clearly Val was in trouble. He started running and replied, “I'm on my way, just tell me where to find you.”

Upon arriving to the government facility Val had haphazardly directed him to, he found her crumpled on the floor, buried under a several filing cabinets.

“Val there you are! What's happened?” he asked, expecting villains to come out of the woodwork at any moment.

Instead, Val mumbled to herself, “I had plans tonight...” Her voice was on the verge of breaking “…but the department of homeland security called…I have to do all this paperwork tonight...I just wanted to have a bit of a life outside of work?”

Pietro pulled her out of the pile of papers.

“Val, I thought I was clear with you this morning not to call me over idiotic things. I have to take away your phone privileges now.”

Valerie was so glum she didn’t bother responding to Pietro. Pietro remembered that he should try to be nicer to her.

“Pull yourself together, getting worked up over pointless things.”

“You're right, I chose this career, I should resign myself to being chained at my desk.”

Pietro patted her on the back. “That's the spirit.”

Valerie got to the task of picking up the papers from the floor, still looking quite miserable. He sighed, already regretting what he would do next. He picked up all the sheets and neatly stacked them on her desk. He then led her to the desk.

“I can lend you my power to get this paperwork done.”

“Oh yeah? How?”

“I’ll show you”

He sat on the chair and put Valerie on his lap and a pen in her hand. He took her hand in his and proceeded to fill out the forms. His head was over her shoulder to allow him to read the forms at super speed.

“This is not going to be my handwriting though,” she protested.

“Handwriting changes when you’re tired.”

“Yes, but I don’t even know what you’re writing. You could be making mistakes...”

“Just tell them you were possessed by a psychic. Trust me, as someone who’s gone through it, you’re not liable if you’re not in control of your faculties”

“But...”

“I’m done”

The pile of paper was filled out. Valerie shook her hands to regain feeling in them.

“I’m starting to understand why you were so eager to join us in the field back in the day. This is positively stultifying,” he told her.

She scoffed.“Welcome to my world!”

Pietro stretched to wake himself up. She added,“I’m afraid of what the repercussions will be tomorrow, but at least tonight I’m free.”

“You’re welcome”

“I invite you for a drink, as way of thanks” Pietro considered her offer.

“I’ll buy you dinner,” she continued.

He smiled. “Well, when you put it that way…”

“I knew food was your weak point. You hide it well, but I knew it wasn’t just Guido emptying out the fridge”

**CHAPTER 3**

Val had insisted they go to a night club first. She wanted to work an appetite, as she put it. Pietro acquiesced to her demand. It’s not like he had any other plans, and he was pretty good on the dance floor anyway. 

Val drank copiously. He figured this was her way of decompressing after work. After spending two hours at the club, it struck Val that she wanted to see the ocean, and then go to dinner. As Pietro was feeling pretty drunk in that moment, he agreed to take her. She got on his back, piggy back style, and off they went.

In the few minutes it took for them to get to the beach, Pietro collapsed on the sand.

Val got off his back and knelt at his side “Oh my god, Pietro, what’s wrong?”

She turned his body so he wouldn’t suffocate on sand. He was pale and cold.

“Food” he whispered.

Val leaned forward to better hear him. Pietro mustered some energy, “FOOD!”

Val jumped up in surprise.

“Oh right! Just hang on, I’ll bring you food.”

She ran off the beach in a hurry. Pietro stayed immobile, staring vacantly at the sky above him. As moments passed, he felt the sea slowly rise at his feet. The tide was coming in, and he was right in its path. Too weak to crawl to higher ground, he whispered to himself, “So…this is how it ends.”

A shout disrupted his morbid thoughts

“Pietro! I have food! Please don’t die on me!” Val threw herself by his side. She pulled Pietro out of the water and raised him to a sitting position. She shoved a straw in his mouth.

“Here! Liquid sugar to get you going.” Pietro took the cup in his hand and sucked vanilla milkshake out of the straw.

“After that, you can feast on burgers and loads of fries.” She showed him the bag filled with fast-food. She sat next to him to provide physical support to his still weak body.

“I’ve never seen you collapse from exhaustion before. What happened?”

“I was supposed to eat three hours ago, but it slipped my mind tonight for some reason.”

“Sorry about messing up your rhythm.”

It was after finishing the milkshake that Val realized Pietro was slowly falling on her. His head sank to her lap.

“Pietro?” she asked to make sure he was still conscious.

“I’m okay…just need to rest for a bit, if you’ll let me.”

“Sure.” She gently stroked Pietro’s hair. He turned his head halfway and looked at her quizzically.

Val answered in a defensive tone, “What? Your head’s on my lap, of course I’m going to study your freaky white hair. It’s been bugging me for ages.”

He resigned himself to her petting. They spent the next few minutes in this fashion, not saying a word. Pietro broke the silence.

“You asked me before what I’d been up to.”

“Mm? That was awhile ago…”

“I’ve made a terrible mess of my life. I have done horrible things, ruined people’s lives, and for the life of me I can’t comprehend what led me down that path. I had such high aspirations when I first joined the Avengers…it all seems rather naive and silly looking back on it.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because obviously, there’s something wrong with me, Val. Deep in my core, I’m twisted. I can’t help but be dissatisfied with everything, and find fault everywhere. Is it any wonder the Avengers have had enough of me?”

“You said you were taking a sabbatical.”

“Because no one wants me. But I can’t just do nothing with my life. I need action.” Pietro fell silent once again.

“That’s the most intimate thing you’ve ever said to me. Why, all of a sudden?”

”Well, you’re drunk, so I’m banking on the fact that you’ll forget everything I’ve said”

“I’m not that drunk”

”In that case, forget I said anything”

”You really are weird. You’re always pushing people away. Maybe I can’t help you, but it doesn’t mean I can’t be there for you if you’d let me.”

Pietro was quiet for a moment then said “I’m sorry about this morning.”

“For what?”

“I was a bit too mean with you”

“Oh that! I don’t really mind it. Sure you’re gifted at pissing me off, but I’m not getting emotional scars from it... I just wish you weren’t so defensive all the time.”

“...maybe I’m afraid of being hurt” he muttered

“Ya think?” He looked up at her quizzically.

“I may not be a psychologist, but I’m not stupid Pietro”

“Then tell me Val, what’s wrong with me?”

“What’s wrong with you Pietro is that you get hurt too easily, and as a defensive mechanism you hurt others before they get the chance to hurt you”

“Mmm... food for thought”

“Speaking of food, you haven’t eaten the burgers yet”

“Ah right!” Pietro sat back up and grabbed a burger from the paper bag.

“Well thank you for the psychoanalysis. I think it’s fair I return the favor”

“What do you mean?”

“I think you’re unsatisfied in your job, and I worry about your liver if you’re going to remain there”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“That your way of dealing with work is to drink a lot of alcohol”

“I’m not an alcoholic!” Val said defensively. Pietro laughed.

“You’re cute when you’re angry”

Val scowled then relented. “I’m like you Pietro. I also had aspirations in the beginning. It’s just that the bureaucracy of government leaves me powerless to do anything. But at the same time, I also need something to do.”

Val stretched out her legs before her. “You know, I envy you Pietro. I wish I could run away and then I’d take this opportunity to remake myself”

“Easier said than done”

“The problem with you is that you’re too stuck inside your head to view things differently. You need someone to help you get a new perspective”

Pietro smiled slyly “So you want me to runaway with you?”

“Why not?”

Pietro scoffed “Now I know you’re drunk. I’m a terrible travel companion”

“And so am I. We’re going to annoy the crap out of each other” she smiled.

Pietro chuckled “Oh what the hell. It wouldn’t be the stupidest thing I’ve done.”

He stoop up and brushed off the sand from his clothes.   
“So where do you want to run away to?” Pietro asked.

“Timbuktu” Val stood up, and moved to climb on Pietro’s back.

“As far away as Timbuktu, uh? I like the way you think” Pietro carried Val on his back.

“Enough chit chat, Pietro. I’m ready to go”

“You better buy me food when we get there.”

“No problem” Val smiled.

“Alright then. Let’s go” And they sped off in the distance. 

-THE ABRUPT END TO AN INCOMPLETE STORY


End file.
